Car-door hanger.



- No. 813,724. PATBNTBD PEB. 27, 1906.

CAR DOOR HANGER. .APPLICATION FILED 11m23.19o4.

UNITED STATES VPATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD F. LUCE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO EDWARD F. LUCE 8a COMPANY, INC., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

CAR-DOOR HANGER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 27, 1906.

To a/Z whom, it m/a/y concern.-

Beit known that I, EDWARD F. LUCE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Door Hangers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to car-door hangers g and it consists in the features, combinations, and details of construction hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a broken sectional elevation of a portion of the sliding car-door constructed in accordance with my improvements and showing one of the hangers in side elevation g Fig. 2, a sectional elevation taken on line 2 of Fig. l, showing the upper portion of the door and track in section and the hanger in elevation.

In constructing a sliding car-door and hanger and brake mechanism therefor I provide a door of any ordinary and well-known type. A track e, preferably in the form of a Z-bar, is mounted above the door, its upwardly-projecting portion being connected to the body portion g of the car by means of suitable bolts h and nuts t and its depending portion y' forming a guide adapted to engage the outer side surface of the door. Ahanger k is mounted upon the door and secured firmly to the outer surface thereof by means of suitable bolts l, such hanger being provided with an upwardly-projecting arm portion m, having an integral loop or upper bracket portion n at its upper end, forming avertical slot or open pocket o, in which a hanger-wheel p is rotatably and reciprocatingly mounted. This upper loop or bracket portion of the hanger is provided at each side thereof with an elongated bearing-slot g, extending horizontally, and the journals r of the hanger-wheel are rotatably and reciprocating-ly mounted in these horizontal slots, respectively. `A suitable hub s upon the hanger-wheel extends into engagement with the loop or bracket portion of the hanger, so as to prevent undue friction between the wheel and hanger during the movement of the door. Any desired number of these hangers may be used, and as they should all be identical it is only deemed necessary to illustrate and describe one in detail in order to enable the invention tobe understood.

It is very desirable that means be provided whereby the movement of the door maybe retarded by means of friction applied to the rhanger wheel or wheels, so as to automatically retard the rotation thereof as the door approaches its limit of movement in either direction and that the greatest possible freedom of movement be afforded between the open and closed positions or between the points where it is desirable to begin to gradually retard the movement of the door. In order to accomplish this, the upper portion of the hanger is provided with preferably integral brake-shoes t on the opposite sides of the hanger wheel. These brake shoes preferably form the ends of the loop portion in which the hanger-wheel is mounted, connecting the side portions of the loop and providing fric tion-surf aces for engaging the periphery of the hanger-wheel mounted between them. These brake-surfaces are each arranged nearer to the periphery of the hanger-wheel than the distance from the wheel-journals to the corresponding ends of the horizontal slots in which such journals are rotatably and reciprocatingly mounted. By this arrangement the peripheral surface of the wheel engages the friction shoulder or brake before the axle reaches the end of the horizontal slot or socket in which it is mounted, and perfect freedom of action is thus allowed the wheel during its reciprocating movements between the brakesurfaces, the rotation of the wheel being prefvented and the movement of the door gradually and automatically retarded by means of the frictional engagement of the wheel and friction brake portion. By this arrangement the movement of the door causes the hanger -wheel to rotate in Aa corresponding direction freely until the door reaches a point near its limit of motion, at which point the peripheral surface of the hanger-wheel engages the friction surface of the adjacent brake portion, so as to gradually retard the movement of the door until it is finally stopped When the door is either in its open or closed position, one of the brakes is in engagement with the hanger-wheel, and the door is thus prevented from becoming accidentally thrown in either direction. The vibration of the door and the hanger upon the track, which would otherwise result from the movement of the car, is also greatly reduced.

IOO

1. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination, of a hanger-bracket provided with horizontally-extending bearingslots and With friction-brakes, and a hanger- Wheel journaled in suoli slots and Contacting With the friction-brake at or near the end of its Amovement in the slots.

2. In a door-hanger, the combination of a hanger-arm provided with horizontally-extending bearing-slots, a hanger-Wheel provided With journals rotatably and reciprocatingly mounted in such bearing slots, and brake-shoes arranged in the ath of movement of suoli hanger-Wheel an having a rio- I 5 tion-surface nearer the periphery of such Wheel than the-distance from the end of the bearing-slots to the journals of suoli Wheel, substantially as described.

EDWARD F. LUCE.

Witnesses:

HARRY I. OROMER, ANNA L. SAVOIE. 

